Authors (including presenting author) :
Fong CH(1), Yu Teresa(1), Lee TH(1), Ng Serena(2), Chow Jonathan(2), Yang Mable(2), Li CK(1), Tai ML(1)
Affiliation :
(1) Department of Rehabilitation, Kowloon Hospital, (2) Community Rehabilitation Service Support Centre, KCC
Introduction :
Driver rehabilitation is a type of rehabilitation that helps individuals with disabilities or aging to achieve safe driving. For those disabled persons who have passed the driving ability assessment, they may apply for a Disabled Person’s Parking Permit (DPPP) from Transport Department. The applicant must be a disabled person holding a full driving licence, a learner’s driving licence or a probationary driving licence, and should hold a certificate signed by or on behalf of the Director of Health or the Hospital Authority stating that who is suffering from a permanent disease or physical disability that causes him considerable difficulty in walking, according to the Road Traffic Ordinance (Chapter 374).
In the Driver Rehab Clinic in Kowloon Hospital, health risk assessment and DPPP assessment would be performed. Our clinic was set up in May 2016. It was first located at Community Rehabilitation Service Support Centre (CRSSC) and later was relocated to Rehabilitation Building in May 2017.
Objectives :
To review the service of DPPP assessment at Driver Rehab Clinic in Kowloon Hospital.
Methodology :
A retrospective review was performed on patients finishing DPPP assessment for the period May 2017 to December 2019.
Result & Outcome :
A total of 173 patients were referred to Driver Rehab Clinic for DPPP assessment. 3 patients were excluded because they defaulted the appointment. The mean age of the 170 patients was 46 years old. 76.5% were male and 23.5% were female. In the Driver Rehab Clinic in KH, patients with various medical conditions were being assessed for eligibility of DPPP application. Among those 170 patients being assessed, 132 patients (77.6%) were eligible whereas 38 patients (22.4%) were not eligible.
Among those 132 eligible disabled persons for DPPP, 50% of them suffered from neurological diseases. These neurological diseases included spinal cord injury (24.2%), poliomyelitis (22.7%), cerebrovascular diseases (10.6%) and prolapsed intervertebral disc (10.6%).
For the remaining 50% of patients, 44.7% patients belonged to the group of musculoskeletal diseases. Among these patients, 40.7% were amputee and other miscellaneous musculoskeletal diseases included fracture femur, osteoarthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and rheumatoid arthritis.
38 patients were not eligible as they did not meet the criteria of difficulty in walking. Among these not eligible application, 5 patients (13.2%) had malignancy and 4 patients (10.5%) suffered from low back pain. 3 patients (7.9%) appealed and requested review their conditions and applications.
In conclusion, assessing DPPP eligibility needs objective assessment and guidelines in order to avoid controversies. Also, temporary and review for DPPP renewal may be useful for some patients.
